While Leibson naturally carries most of the melodic load, Yang interjects her own low-thrumming harmonic ideas, and Cleaver makes his presence felt outside of mere beat-keeping.
His harmonic sophistication and distinctive chord voices take responsibility for the shape and feel of each tune, with his bandmates following his standard.
Not surprisingly, the “chilling mood-pop, as strangely still as David Bowie’s Low and Heroes, side twos” of Seattle outfit Blue Grass’s 2021 third LP Jardin des Étoiles is present on this similarly “jardin”-titled fourth.
Chicago-based alternative post-punk outfit The Bellwether Syndicate presents “Beacons”, the second single from the band’s Vestige & Vigil album, scheduled for release in April 2023 via Nexilis Records / Schubert Music Europe and Sett Records in North America. The single debuted at #4 in the DAC/German Alternative Charts.
If there’s a jazz saxophonist more prolific than Ivo Perelman, it’s unclear who that might be.
Baker entered a prolific creative period in the old world, including an ongoing collaboration with German vibraphonist Wolfgang Lackerschmid.
When musicians from disparate genres come together, you never know what you might get.
Two albums in, The Shop Window has dived into the warm sound of jangle pop with outstanding results. The Kent, UK band’s ”A 4 Letter Word” has just been released on limited edition vinyl and is a record I can’t stop playing.
Barbeau lets it all hang out here, both musically and emotionally, and it leads to Stranger being one of his very best records.
There are lots of multi-instrumentalists out there in Musicland – that’s no surprise. But how many of them are experts in a pair of instruments as disparate as the guitar and the trumpet?
Tired of the usual Christmas tunes played the normal way? Bad Mary has the answer and A Very Bad Christmas takes a collection of seasonal sounds, turns them on their head, weaponises them and breathes new life into the holiday sound. Not for the faint-hearted.
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Richard Dawson is part of a long line of British eccentrics.
In a way the West Coast counterpart to Boston’s Rum Bar Records, Burbank’s Big Stir also pledges its troth to gimmick-free guitar pop and rock & roll, with an emphasis on the former.
One listen to this mesmerizing fourth album was all it took to become hooked on Dallas instrumental guitar virtuoso Hewitt’s dexterous and highly melodious style of flamenco playing.
While that pressing has sold out, a 2nd vinyl pressing (with a beautiful 11×17 poster) as well as a cassette and CD version have now been released, making it easier for fans who want a physical copy of this release to get one.
The pair hit it off when working together as part of drummer Tim Horner’s group, and their chemistry, both with each other and with Cuenca, is evident in this relaxed set of songs.
The term “chamber jazz” has fairly wide-ranging connotations – just check out the catalog of ECM Records. But Chamber Made, the latest album from clarinetist Darryl Harper, takes the sobriquet literally.
Working with producer Alicia Vanden Heuvel, Janko and her band make a record that sounds utterly out of time, with a simple, stripped-down arrangement style that eschews production slickness for soul.
LA-based alt-pop songstress Faith Marie presents her new single “Rock Bottom”, the lead single from her forthcoming EP, titled More Than I Am, which is slated for release in early 2023. Her two-year hibernation is over following a series of lockdowns and other setbacks, this 3-track release taking a year to complete from beginning to end.
British alternative artist SICKY presents his thickly layered sophomore album Garbage Town, a 12-track collection that follows three singles – the title track “Garbage Town”, “The Bridge”, and the latest “A Bite Without A Mark”. SICKY is the solo project of Mick Butler, his brand of melodic Britpop-infused indie rock spells good news for fans of Beck, Supergrass and early Blur. Originally from the Black Country region of England, he is now based in Shropshire.
Though he’s not invoked as much as he used to be, it’s worth remembering that Ahmad Jamal is a major jazz figure, both in terms of popularity and cultural impact.
The Los Angeles singer/songwriter/guitarist has made it to album #14 without causing much of a ripple on the surface of popular acclaim, and given the high quality of his work, that’s both a shame and a mystery.
Though not as focused as the Sonar records or as risky as the string quartet album, in some ways Thelen’s Fractal Guitar series represents his aesthetic at its most pure.
Alternative music legend Chris Connelly presents his new album Eulogy to Christa: A Tribute to the Music & Mystique of Nico, a colossal 24-track offering released by Shipwrecked Industries in the USA and Easy Action in the UK, paying tribute to Nico – the iconic muse of The Velvet Underground and one of the most unique, tragic and misunderstood female artists in the history of music.
As both men favor melodic construction over unrestricted blowing, together they create a program that, while technically impressive, is more purely musical than anything else.
Scotland’s Trashcan Sinatras released “Lay of the Land” over the summer as a digital-only release. A new physical-format EP (12” orange vinyl or CD) with three bonus b-sides is fresh off the press.
It’s hard to keep up, let alone find the brightest diamonds, so here’s a quick round-up of some of the best of their recent releases.
American indie rocker Rob Munk presents his new Phased Out album, 20 years after initially leaving the music scene. Alas, music takes on its own life, pushing Rob back into its realm with better and more personal songs than ever before. During the pandemic, he recorded this album with his good friend, actor-writer-artist Daniel London (Old Joy, Minority Report, Manhattan) and Tinsel drummer and writer-director Joe Ventura.
Art rock collective The Pull of Autumn presents their new single “Live Today”, a joint collaboration with Tokyo dreamgaze band Once Grace Forever. with a kaleidoscopic video created by Rosie Varela of acclaimed shoegaze band EEP.
Trumpeter/keyboardist Nicholas Payton is that rare musician who knows exactly how to balance two callings – reverence for the ancestors and the urge to move forward and keep the music’s evolution going.
NYC-based alternative rock / post-punk duo A Cloud of Ravens present their new single “Nature of Artifice”. Following lead track “The Blackest Mantra”, this is the second taste of their third full-length album Lost Hymns, to be released in early 2023 via Berlin-based Nexilis Records, a division of Schubert Music Europe.
NYC-based indie rock / powerpop outfit Gramercy Arms presents their Americana-tinged single “Yesterday’s Girl”, a bittersweet remembrance of love lost and friendship regained. This is the first taste of their Deleted Scene album, scheduled for release via the Magic Door Record Label in early 2023,
The quartet made three albums of punky, fuzz-banged power pop that deserved more than to be relegated to the dollar bins.
Jimi on the cusp of change, testing the boundaries of stardom.
Though probably best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Louis Hayes and Trey Anastasio, bassist/composer Dezron Douglas is a fine bandleader in his own right.
“Submotile is a band that sneaks up on you, storms your senses, and thoroughly ensnares you.”
Guitarist Bruce Licher continues rolling out the reissues on his re-galvanized Independent Project Records label with the release of archival material from his much beloved band Savage Republic.
Filtering their sunny birthplace roots through the hard rocking urbanity of their current hometown, California-to-Detroit immigrants Hayley and the Crusher kick the appropriate jams out on fourth LP Modern Adult Kicks.
Fefer comes up with strong tunes that take advantage not only of his full-boded, almost creamy tone, but the special skills of his quartet.
Frenchy and the Punk is vocalist, percussionist and lyricist Samantha Stephenson and guitarist-composer Scott Helland, who was co-founder and bassist of Outpatients and also Deep Wound (along with Dinosaur Jr. founders J Mascis and Lou Barlow). Influenced by The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie, Concrete Blonde and The B52’s, the duo thrive in their trademark blend of post-punk and dark folk music.
Dark electro-goth collective Dispel presents their sophomore release Inferno. A concept album based on Dante’s literary masterpiece, it features a song for each layer of sin existing in the infernal realm. In this album, Dispel follows Dante and his guide Virgil down each layer of the Nine Hells, dedicating a song to each level of mortal sin. Sprinkled with diabolical personalities from ancient mythology and fantasy literature, this undertaking took two years to complete.
Mata Atlântica is a rainforest on the coast of Brazil, and is one of the most species-rich biotopes on Earth – as well as one of the most endangered, with 90% of it already destroyed. Mata Atlântica is also a musical project assembled by co-producer and co-composers Mathias Derer and Markus Reuter.
New York-based garage rock purveyor Dmitry Wild has released his Electric Souls album, bringing us 11 tracks that showcase his trademark blend of 70’s vintage rock, garage rock and post-punk ethos.
Art pop band Elk City has released their new album Above the Water. A new chapter in the Montclair, New Jersey band’s evolutionary story, this album is vibrant, raw-edged and bold, showcasing a new guitar-rich lineup featuring members of Versus, Luna and the Psychedelic Furs side-project Feed.
His run with the Trio sadly came to a sudden end with his 2008 death via a scuba-diving accident, but it turns out his musical career wasn’t over yet. Discovered in the music he left behind was a fully recorded and mixed solo piano album.
“Sleep Paralysis” marks Big Bliss’ first new music in four years. The Brooklyn band has been biding their time through the depths of Covid and recently surfaced with their latest single. Expanding on their trademark edgy, angular post-punk exploration, I asked founder Tim Race to bring Big Takeover readers up to speed on the single and the upcoming second album.
Seattle-based psychedelic rock outfit Black Nite Crash present their new album Washed in the Sound with Black Nite Crash, released via American boutique label Neon Sigh, which was mixed by longtime collaborator Matt Brown (Trespassers William) and mastered by Adam Straney.
There can be something magical about stripping music down to just an instrument and a voice, without the enhancement (distraction?) of a full-blown arrangement.
